He'll get a book deal.

"known as one of the most honest and compelling dispatches of blogging from the warfront"

according to whom?

I know there are tons of miliblogs that are considered wonderful, I was just wondering if there was a list??

Oh how right you are Coll!

I think as long as he wasn't revealing anything that would have put anyone in danger that it is purely censorship. Isn't that sort of what the army is known for though?

Sy I just heard of one the other day, I wish I could remember what it was called! It was a blog about the sailors on a submarine I think... shoot! If it comes to me I'll PM you.

Maybe it is censorship, but just because he mentions things after the fact and changes names doesn't mean its not dangerous. The Internet has all but ruined operational security, there was a unit that I know of that was scheduled to deploy and I was tracing down their website when I came across thier Wikipedia entry which someone had changed to show where they were going, what they were doing, and when they were leaving.

So even if the guy writes about things after the fact, there is no reason someone can't be reading it and think "hey i was there for that, so that must be this guy and they must be at this location doing this job"

very cool.

I just find it interesting that "one of the most compelling" miliblogs *out of the TONS* happens to be one that is anti-military.

Plus we have to remember that officers are held to stricter regulations and that this blog he ran could have adversely affected his career, so we don't know for certain that his superiors didn't pull him aside and say "listen, this might reflect negatively on you down the line, it may be a smart thing to shut it down"

I mean people get FIRED for their blogs all the time! Or not hired or a million things. That in and of itself is nothing new.

I see police state creeping up on the horizon. I know that our leaders do things with good intention for the sake of security but at some point if you keep inching towards a police state and never back track but just keep inching you're going to reach a police state whether you like it or not.

I know it's been said a million times, but when you're in the military, especially deployed abroad, there are different rules.

hypno i could see your point if it was something where the safety of others wasn't compromised, but in this instance the safety of those he serves with could very well have been compromised had someone RECOGNIZED him from his PICTURE on the front page of the blog.

If he wants to write about his experiences when he gets home, then more power to him, but while he's there his only worry should be about getting him and the men he is responsible for home safely.

The original piece made the anecdotal "honest and compelling" claim about Kaboom. If you're looking for more military blogs, I found this list that has them all categorized by type--it's not the most current, but some are worth it just for the titles. They're great.

Thanks citizen. A good friend of mine has done all her master's research on miliblogs and I find them utterly fascinating.

Hmmmmm. In a warfront, I'd have to say operational security comes first.

His posting says "Due to a rash posting" so basically what happened was his commanding officer got to read his posts before he posted them in order for it to be cleared from an operational security standpoint, from reading this blog it sounds like the CO being able to read his posts before he posts them was part of the deal. So he posted one without the go ahead and he got in trouble for it.

I don't see a problem with them shutting it down if he didn't follow the rules.

Cabaker I see nothing to indicate that he was posting sensitive information, only his opinion. I myself would have snatched him bald headed if he was releasing sensitive information. As for my statement the act that his superiors took transcends the military and is very telling of our response to security in general. This is happening in many facets of our society not just the military.

what exactly does "snatched bald headed" mean??

LMAO! If you have an African Amer. (girl) friend you should ask her.

Shoot! Mine is on vacation!

The thing is that there are many things that compromise a mission besides JUST sensitive information. If you write about a certain restaurant that you like to frequent or you write about your morning routine it makes you easier to target. We were trained to do things like change the way we go home every day, to never let our routine get too ingrained...things like that. You would be very surprised at how the most harmless of information can aid the enemy.

As has been pointed out in other comments, when you are in the military, especially in an operational hot zone, the rules are different. Harmony, thanks for pointing out that something that seems rather frivolous on the surface can really hurt you (or those serving with you) later!

I guess all we can do is wait and see if the transcripts of these blogs will be released in a report or book, because right now all we can do is speculate whether we're for or against the action taken by his superiors.

Very true, hypno... I am sure the book deal will be forthcoming soon! (as colleenb has already mentioned!)

The blog is still online. He's just not creating any additional posts. If you click on Citizen's link, it takes you right to the blog.

Thanks lilkimbo, I just got really sad reading some of that. I do wish that they would let him continue to talk about his feelings because I'm sure it was therapeutic. If he just talked about how he felt I wouldn't see the harm. I hope he has a journal to write in.

"If he just talked about how he felt I wouldn't see the harm. I hope he has a journal to write in."

You just gave me the most random thought, harmonyfrance. It used to be that for people who weren't aspiring to be professional writers, a nice private journal or diary was enough self-expression, but now it seems everyone doesn't just want to express themselves and their feelings, but needs an audience (blog readers). Hmm.

The thoughts and feelings of soldiers on the front line are especially deserving of an audience, however.

I just read the May 28 posting on his blog, the one in question. Very poetic gifted writer, I don't see anything through my eye that would jump out and say security breach but then I am not a seasoned commanding officer responsible for security as well as image.

The circumstances stand out as peculiar to me though how the request was motivated by his miss step in clearing his post before posting while on leave. “I committed no OPSEC violations, due to a series of extenuating circumstances – the least of which was me being on leave – my “The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage” post on May 28 did not go through the normal vetting channels." I don't know about you but it seems as though his commanding officers were salivating at the mouths for him to miss step in any way to pull the plug.

i think hypnotic got it right. Obviously his superiors weren't happy with the negative coverage and were waiting for him to do the slightest thing wrong so they'd have an excuse to shut it down. Doesn't seem like a security issue at all, or else it would've been shut down a lot earlier.

"I don't know about you but it seems as though his commanding officers were salivating at the mouths for him to miss step in any way to pull the plug."

I completely agree hypno.

Yes, I do believe it was clearly shut down do to procedural miss step rather than content. If you take the time to read back further the previous content is very similar in nature so it was not his content it was lack of attention to procedure. Technically his commanders had every right to do what they did their motives simply do not sit well with me.

No worries. I'm sure our fantastic media outlets unfettered by military or governmental pressure will no doubt fill the void!

Mentioned in a few comments, I have to agree different rules apply when comes to military. Ive never actually read one, but now Im intrigued. Going to check out your list C, thanks for the post!

But we don't KNOW their motives. All we have is speculation. So I think before we condemn them, maybe we could give military officers the benefit of the doubt?

Nyah.

He was too naive. Americans are ALWAYS so naive about what other people will do with information they (the others, the enemy) find on the Internet. Does he REALLY think that he was capable of 'changing the names to protect the guilty or innocent' that the Insurgents didn't know who and what he was discussing?

Be mature, of course they were able to figure it out, probably before they finished reading the day's posting.

It was NOT censorship, it was to protect our forces and those Middle Easterners who are helping their Country and the USofA.

One of the BIGGEST problems with young people (anyone under age 85) today is lack of respect for authority. Heck, they don't even understand what authority is, much less respect it.

I wonder how many soldiers got killed because the insurgents read his blog and used the information the next day in combat?

Oohhh boy Auntie Coosa is back!

I read her stuff with a spoon! I really missed her.

Well damn if you're that good Auntie please give us a transcript because Inquiring Minds Want To Know.

Ugh, did people actually read the entry that caused him to have to stop blogging? It doesn't give any information, it recounts a conversation he has with a superior officer (where he rejects a promotion offer). I'm not saying that changing names and info is a foolproof plan, but none of that was the going on in the entry that got him shutdown. So if releasing too much information was the problem, it would've been shut down much sooner. Clearly, like previously stated, this was a chance for them to shut down the blog, seizing the moment because he slipped up in following their required procedure. So before you make statements about how many people have lost their lives because of what he's written, read the entry that caused him to get shutdown and then try to make the argument his release of sensitive information was why he was rightfully forced to stop blogging.

You go Papa Smurf! I mean em113.

Wasn't he forced to stop because he failed to follow proper protocols (ie:getting autorization from his superiors)? IMO, that's too great a risk, even if this one didn't reveal anything pertenant, the next slip up might have. This isn't civilians sitting at home, or at a day job. This is the military in a hostile environment, and any slip up will cost lives.

To those who read one or two of this soldier's entries and found no problem, I suggest you familiarize yourself with the concept of data mining. It's more commonly recognized in a business or computer security context, but our enemies can easily read all the miliblogs, find similar details, cross-reference them and derive some very useful information. Actually, I'm surprised anyone is allowed to blog from war zones at all.